George Santos Defends JD Vance Against Drag Photo Controversy

Ohio Sen. JD Vance (R) has yet to comment on recently resurfaced photos of him in drag — but, unsurprisingly, former Rep. George Santos has a lot to say.

On Sunday, a photo showing the Republican vice presidential nominee in a blond wig and long dress went viral on social media, in part because of its contrast to the harsh stance many in the GOP have taken against drag and the LGBTQ+ community.

The photo reportedly dates back to 2012, when Vance was a student at Yale Law School. A second photo was posted on social media Monday. While Vance’s campaign didn’t respond to HuffPost inquiries, it didn’t deny the photos were legit to The Daily Beast.

Santos, who served as a Republican U.S. representative from New York, insisted that Vance wasn’t doing proper “drag,” he was just wearing a dress.

“To call that drag is disingenuous and I think most dudes at some point in their lives have played around with costumes that are gender bender,” the controversial former congressman told TMZ. “Couples do that all the time. The wife will dress up as a guy, the husband will dress up as a woman. It’s definitely not drag.”

Santos, who has dressed in drag as the persona Kitara Ravache, is amused to the reaction to the viral photos — which, in his eyes, are simply of a guy who “went to a costume party, put on a freakin’ cheap wig from Party City or something similar.”

“It’s so funny that people are so obsessed that someone’s in drag or someone’s put a wig on,” he added. “In my case 18 years ago when I was a minor and nobody held back punches at something I did as a kid and had fun.”

As The New Republic notes, the issue for many is not the fact that Vance decided to dress in female clothing for a costume party, but his hypocrisy. Vance has made many statements against the LGBTQ+ community, including tossing around the term “groomer” when discussing anti-LGBTQ+ legislation. In 2023, he introduced a bill that would criminalize gender-affirming care for minors.

Drag queens have become a popular target for right-wing activists and politicians, with lawmakers in multiple states taking aim at events where drag performers read books to children.

As for Santos, since he was expelled from Congress in December after it was revealed that he improperly spent thousands of dollars in campaign funds, he has been earning money in part by recording Cameo messages as Kitara for $600 a pop.

But the former lawmaker didn’t have nice words for Vance’s outfit in the photos, saying, “Holy crap, is that bad drag,” and adding, “If that’s drag, then I guess all these other drag queens on ‘RuPaul’s Drag Race’ can all be considered cisgender women at this point.”

Santos also doubted Vance’s running mate Donald Trump would make a big stink about the photos.

“Absolutely not. I mean, don’t forget, Donald Trump motorboated Rudy Giuliani in drag for charity. So come on, what are we talking about? This is silly,” he said.

HuffPost reached out to the Vance campaign for comment on Santos’ defense of the photos, but no one immediately responded.

You can see Santos’ complete comments below.

<div class="js-react-hydrator" data-component-name="YouTube" data-component-id="1673" data-component-props="{"itemType":"video","index":19,"contentIndexByType":2,"contentListType":"embed","code":"

","type":"video","meta":{"author":"TMZ","author_url":"https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCK7IIV6Q2junGSdYK3BmZMg","cache_age":86400,"description":"George Santos is defending J.D. Vance as he faces allegations of dressing up like a woman when he was in law school … George says one thing is clear, it’s definitely NOT drag.\n\nFOLLOW ALL TMZ PODCASTS: https://www.audio.tmz.com/\n\nAbout TMZ:\nTMZ has consistently been credited for breaking the biggest stories dominating the entertainment news landscape and changed the way the public gets their news. Regularly referenced by the media, TMZ is one of the most cited entertainment news sources in the world. \n\nSubscribe to TMZ on YouTube for breaking celebrity news/ gossip and insight from the newsroom staff, the best clips from TMZ on TV, Raw & Uncut TMZ video (from TMZ.com) and the latest video from TMZ Sports and TMZ Live! \n\nWe love Hollywood, we just have a funny way of showing it.\n\nNeed More TMZ?\nTMZ Website: http://tmz.me/fPrTwZt\nLIKE TMZ on Facebook! http://tmz.me/9sGB00a\nFOLLOW TMZ on Twitter! http://tmz.me/9LeeNWQ\nFOLLOW TMZ on Instagram! http://tmz.me/ep7d8Bn\nTMZ on TV & TMZ Sports on FS1 Tune In Info: http://tmz.me/ccuirUZ\nTMZ is on iOS! http://tmz.me/ecOjgiH\nTMZ is on Android! http://tmz.me/pkwieRA\n\nGot a Tip?\nContact TMZ: http://tmz.me/UsxYCvE\n\nCheck out TMZ Live, TMZ Sports and toofab!\nTMZ Live: http://tmz.me/GxCXCfl\nSubscribe! TMZ Live: http://tmz.me/cLxA82p\nTMZ Sports: http://tmz.me/jMBERbb\nSubscribe! TMZ Sports: http://tmz.me/jMBERbb\nToofab: http://tmz.me/dsXztns\nSubscribe! toofab: http://tmz.me/VeVLMmi\n\n\nhttps://www.youtube.com/c/TMZ","options":{"_cc_load_policy":{"label":"Closed captions","value":false},"_end":{"label":"End on","placeholder":"ex.: 11, 1m10s","value":""},"_start":{"label":"Start from","placeholder":"ex.: 11, 1m10s","value":""},"click_to_play":{"label":"Hold load & play until clicked","value":false}},"provider_name":"YouTube","thumbnail_height":720,"thumbnail_url":"https://i.ytimg.com/vi/Caa8tE8Bv1Y/maxresdefault.jpg","thumbnail_width":1280,"title":"George Santos Defends J.D. Vance Allegedly Cross-Dressing, Says It’s Not Drag | TMZ","type":"video","url":"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Caa8tE8Bv1Y","version":"1.0"},"flags":[],"enhancements":{},"fullBleed":false,"options":{"theme":"news","device":"desktop","editionInfo":{"id":"us","name":"U.S.","link":"https://www.huffpost.com","locale":"en_US"},"originalEdition":"us","isMapi":false,"isAmp":false,"isVideoEntry":false,"isEntry":true,"isMt":false,"entryId":"66bb78c9e4b0768018b71046","entryPermalink":"https://www.huffpost.com/entry/george-santos-jd-vance-drag-photos_n_66bb78c9e4b0768018b71046","entryTagsList":"2024-elections,george-santos,jd-vance,drag-queens,@queer_voices,@us_huffpost_now,@voices","sectionSlug":"politics","deptSlug":"politics-news","sectionRedirectUrl":null,"subcategories":"us-news,media,queer-voices,style","isWide":false,"headerOverride":null,"noVideoAds":false,"disableFloat":false,"isNative":false,"commercialVideo":{"provider":"custom","site_and_category":"us.politics","package":null},"isHighline":false,"vidibleConfigValues":{"cid":"60afc111dcf87c2cd2f5d8bf","overrides":{"front_page_top_videos":{"desktop":"60b64354b171b7444beaff4d","mobileweb":"60b64354b171b7444beaff4d"},"top_media":{"desktop":"60b8e6bdc5449357a7ada147","mobile":"60b8e701c5449357a7ada2ee","iphone":"60b8e643cdd90620331bb1f6","ipad":"60b8e643cdd90620331bb1f6","androidphone":"60b8e699c5449357a7ada04c","androidtablet":"60b8e699c5449357a7ada04c"},"anthology":{"desktop":"60b8e616cdd90620331bb0ba","mobile":"60b8e671c5449357a7ad9f66","iphone":"60b8e643cdd90620331bb1f6","ipad":"60b8e643cdd90620331bb1f6","androidphone":"60b8e699c5449357a7ada04c","androidtablet":"60b8e699c5449357a7ada04c"},"content":{"desktop":"60b8e616cdd90620331bb0ba","mobile":"60b8e671c5449357a7ad9f66","iphone":"60b8e643cdd90620331bb1f6","ipad":"60b8e643cdd90620331bb1f6","androidphone":"60b8e699c5449357a7ada04c","androidtablet":"60b8e699c5449357a7ada04c"}},"playerUpdates":{"5668ae6ee4b0b5e26955d6a6":"60d2472d9340d7032ad7e443","56aa41bae4b091744c0440d8":"60e869dc7c5f3b17b6741b81","5841b2b5cc52c716ec6e5a7f":"60b8e355cdd90620331ba185","58b5e2b8d85a10302feee895":"60b64316b171b7444beafdb2","58b74698f78ced31417819ae":"60b8e5bec5449357a7ad9b52","58b74ccecebcea57e2c3a3d1":"60b8e5eac5449357a7ad9ca5","58cff690d85a100b9992bc39":"60b8e616cdd90620331bb0ba","58cffb3fb6d9b972a49a3c9d":"60b8e643cdd90620331bb1f6","58cffdd74d96935d7d6ec180":"60b8e671c5449357a7ad9f66","58d03a84f78ced6518eb2fa7":"60b643c82e76be41f112735c","592edf20e0fa177b0c26f7fd":"60b8e699c5449357a7ada04c","5b35266b158f855373e28256":"60b64354b171b7444beaff4d","5c116f29f79c4171d82b7c2a":"60b64440b171b7444beb040b","5c1170fc600c9a697bf0c6b9":"60b646102e76be41f1127ffc","5c47791afa1b317df8ae0c4f":"60b8e6bdc5449357a7ada147","5c477987a6b48b35f164773d":"60b8e701c5449357a7ada2ee","5c4779ee943c3c2a64f28371":"60b8e747cdd90620331bb861","5c477a26fcd67b26879bc7c2":"60b8e788c5449357a7ada67b","5d8921a78c3ae845f366c9b6":"60ae7be5f3a7c13a30417ff9","58b98b00ba82aa39a6534321":"60d0de7c9340d7032ad1146c","58b9d14cb6d9b96c9ec32af3":"60d0dec19340d7032ad115a0","58cff8eccebcea42931e0436":"60d0e005b627221e9d819d44","592edf5de0fa177b0c26f95b":"60d0e38fb627221e9d81adcf","58cff72fd85a100b9992c112":"60d0e447b627221e9d81b0da","56b4d34fe4b022697697c400":"60d2472d9340d7032ad7e443","60b8e4c0c5449357a7ad957d":"60e869dc7c5f3b17b6741b81"}},"connatixConfigValues":{"defaultPlayer":"ff7fdddc-5441-4253-abc4-f12a33fad58b","clickToPlayPlayer":"d014396e-b366-4c17-aeac-3ce906fa3fd0","videoPagePlayer":"f010447b-d244-4111-a314-7b4542ae4145","verticalPlayer":"e58cb05a-0bc8-4210-9108-fea82726c065","stickyPlayer":"8055e9e5-3bda-4933-8d45-9ad814fb6e22"},"topConnatixThumnbailSrc":"https://img.connatix.com/e14f7db8-9365-46b8-83a8-d74bb1d0f115/1_th.jpg?crop=629:354,smart&width=629&height=354&format=jpeg&quality=60&fit=crop","customAmpComponents":[],"ampAssetsUrl":"https://amp.assets.huffpost.com","videoTraits":null,"positionInUnitCounts":{"buzz_head":{"count":0},"buzz_body":{"count":0},"buzz_bottom":{"count":0}},"positionInSubUnitCounts":{"article_body":{"count":18},"blog_summary":{"count":0},"before_you_go_content":{"count":0}},"connatixCountsHelper":{"count":1},"buzzfeedTracking":{"context_page_id":"66bb78c9e4b0768018b71046","context_page_type":"buzz","destination":"huffpost","mode":"desktop","page_edition":"en-us"},"tags":[{"name":"2024 elections","slug":"2024-elections","links":{"relativeLink":"topic/2024-elections","permalink":"https://www.huffpost.com/topic/2024-elections","mobileWebLink":"https://www.huffpost.com/topic/2024-elections"},"department":{"name":"Latest News","slug":"politics-news"},"section":{"title":"Politics","slug":"politics"},"topic":{"title":"2024 Elections","slug":"2024-elections","overridesSectionLabel":false},"url":"https://www.huffpost.com/news/topic/2024-elections"},{"name":"George Santos","slug":"george-santos","links":{"relativeLink":"topic/george-santos","permalink":"https://www.huffpost.com/topic/george-santos","mobileWebLink":"https://www.huffpost.com/topic/george-santos"},"url":"https://www.huffpost.com/topic/george-santos"},{"name":"j.d. vance","slug":"jd-vance","links":{"relativeLink":"topic/jd-vance","permalink":"https://www.huffpost.com/topic/jd-vance","mobileWebLink":"https://www.huffpost.com/topic/jd-vance"},"department":{"name":"Latest News","slug":"politics-news"},"section":{"title":"Politics","slug":"politics"},"topic":{"title":"JD Vance","slug":"jd-vance","overridesSectionLabel":false},"url":"https://www.huffpost.com/news/topic/jd-vance"},{"name":"drag queens","slug":"drag-queens","links":{"relativeLink":"topic/drag-queens","permalink":"https://www.huffpost.com/topic/drag-queens","mobileWebLink":"https://www.huffpost.com/topic/drag-queens"},"department":{"name":"Voices","slug":"voices"},"section":{"title":"Queer Voices","slug":"queer-voices"},"topic":{"title":"Drag Queens","slug":"drag-queens","overridesSectionLabel":false},"url":"https://www.huffpost.com/voices/topic/drag-queens"}],"isLiveblogLive":null,"cetUnit":"buzz_body","bodyAds":["

\r\n\r\n HPGam.cmd.push(function(){\r\n\t\treturn HPGam.render(\"inline-1\", \"entry_paragraph_1\", false, false);\r\n });\r\n\r\n","

\r\n\r\n HPGam.cmd.push(function(){\r\n\t\treturn HPGam.render(\"inline-2\", \"entry_paragraph_3\", false, false);\r\n });\r\n\r\n","

\r\n\r\n HPGam.cmd.push(function(){\r\n\t\treturn HPGam.render(\"inline-infinite\", \"repeating_dynamic_display\", false, false);\r\n });\r\n\r\n"],"adCount":0},"isCollectionEmbed":false}”>

[embedded content]